Congratulations to Heritage Community Initiatives for Landing Job Training Grant!

(02/05/2010) - Heritage Community Initiatives of Braddock has been awarded a $1.4 million grant for a job training program. The funds will be used for a program to train approximately 120 students for green jobs; weatherizing homes; storm water management and demolishing buildings so that the materials can be re-used.

The funds were awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor as part of the $100 million that has been allotted through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to train workers for jobs in the green economy over two years.

This program will build on the Move It labor training program Heritage has been running through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor training programs are tailored for the areas where they are awarded. This program will train students how to weatherize the older homes in the Mon Valley; and how to reuse materials from the older buildings that are demolished. Also, there will be training in "urban eco-restoration", or environmental remediation of vacant lots to make them "rain gardens". The "rain gardens" are designed to hold back storm water through the design of the landscape and the choice of plants planted in the vacant lots.